Lydia Ahn
23 Sept. 2009
English 11
Ms. Jacob
Remote Off!
Hello ladies and gentlemen! I am here to bring up an issue in which many of us don’t agree upon. It is the matter of being honest and having integrity, a quote Mr. Otis always tells us. We constantly hear it..around the halls, during orientation, and sometimes, in his office. And it's true. Being honest is a key factor for any situation in our world. Once one breaks trust and honestly, things can fall apart with a snap of a finger. Our school, being a high-tech, one-to-one lab top school, made the intricate decision of installing apple remote desktop, a system in which teachers can spy on their students’ laptops as long as they’re in school. Our school emphasizes integrity and honesty, but what the school doesn’t realize is that they are actually “breaking” its own rule. Thus, apple remote desktop is not a necessity for school, for it goes against what schools believe in.
Primarily, this new system does not install trust and bonding between the teachers and students. It makes the students question the extent of the teachers’ trust that we’ll do the right thing. In one of my classes, when we were actually all doing our work, the teacher was spying on us and later revealed all the laptop screens on the board. After class, many students complained how much the teacher doesn’t us them to do the right thing. How can we maintain a good, steady, honest relationship when the teacher doesn’t trust us? How do we, as students, trust the teacher? This will disintegrate the student and teacher relationship, eventually causing other disturbances,
Ahn, 2
such as difficulty of asking questions. Those who use apple remote desktop are going against what the school believes in; it’s actually breaking trust, not making it. It’s a matter of power--the teachers have control over the students and their actions on their possessions.
Also, this is a matter of respect towards one another. We must treat others the way we want to be treated, and I’m sure teachers wouldn’t want someone with a higher position, such as Mr. Boerner, spy on them all the time just because of their position and social status. It’s invading our own rights without telling us. John Locke emphasized that all humans should be granted life, liberty, and property. We need to respect each others’ boundaries. The teachers should at least tell us before hand that apple remote desktop is on. They need to respect our own things--although they required us to obtain a macbook, in the end, we are the ones that paid for it. Thus, we should have the control over what to do with what we paid for. It’s as if they are manipulating us with their power and using it against us. If we had the ability to use apple remote desktop on our teachers’ computers, they wouldn’t feel respected either, for it’s a privacy issue. However, just because they are not only older, but have a higher authority, the teachers shouldn’t be able to look at our what we’re doing...and sometimes even control what happens on our computers.
Lastly, it’s our responsibility on what happens with our computer and what we learn. The teachers may state that it’s for our own good, for us to do the right thing before college, but the fact is, we’re not always going to be paying attention in class for hours. Research studies prove that most students only have a concentrated time span for a maximum of 20 minutes. In the end, we are the ones that will be affected if we don’t listen in class. It’s like a babysitter babysitting us
Ahn, 3
until we step out into the real world. But what may happen? With more freedom and liberty in college, students will most likely slack off more due to the fact that they received this freedom that they didn’t have before. It’s basically the same concept as sleeping in class. If students sleep in class, it’s their responsibility to learn and catch up with the work they missed. However, if they did pay attention, then they could earn better scores on tests and exams. We’re high schoolers now, and we should have the rights and responsibility to take care of ourselves and our personal belongings.
We do not need apple remote desktop, because essentially, it “breaks” the school’s morals. Trust, respect, and responsibility are not even moral laws to abide by for the school, but they are major components for the good of our world. Thus, instead of installing apple remote desktop, teachers should just trust that we will do the right thing, and if we don’t, it’ll only have a negative effect on us. Apple remote desktop is an abusive way of showing control--we must terminate this system. My fellow students, the journey to end this absurd system irrevocably is in our hands--we must stand up and fight for our basic morals and desires.
Persuasive Speech
Pre-writing
First Draft
Final Draft
Lydia Ahn
23 Sept. 2009
English 11
Ms. Jacob
Remote Off!
Hello ladies and gentlemen! I am here to bring up an issue in which many of us don’t agree upon. It is the matter of being honest and having integrity, a quote Mr. Otis always tells us. We constantly hear it..around the halls, during orientation, and sometimes, in his office. And it's true. Being honest is a key factor for any situation in our world. Once one breaks trust and honestly, things can fall apart with a snap of a finger. Our school, being a high-tech, one-to-one lab top school, made the intricate decision of installing apple remote desktop, a system in which teachers can spy on their students’ laptops as long as they’re in school. Our school emphasizes integrity and honesty, but what the school doesn’t realize is that they are actually “breaking” its own rule. Thus, apple remote desktop is not a necessity for school, for it goes against what schools believe in.
Primarily, this new system does not install trust and bonding between the teachers and students. It makes the students question the extent of the teachers’ trust that we’ll do the right thing. In one of my classes, when we were actually all doing our work, the teacher was spying on us and later revealed all the laptop screens on the board. After class, many students complained how much the teacher doesn’t us them to do the right thing. How can we maintain a good, steady, honest relationship when the teacher doesn’t trust us? How do we, as students, trust the teacher? This will disintegrate the student and teacher relationship, eventually causing other disturbances,
Ahn, 2
such as difficulty of asking questions. Those who use apple remote desktop are going against what the school believes in; it’s actually breaking trust, not making it. It’s a matter of power--the teachers have control over the students and their actions on their possessions.
Also, this is a matter of respect towards one another. We must treat others the way we want to be treated, and I’m sure teachers wouldn’t want someone with a higher position, such as Mr. Boerner, spy on them all the time just because of their position and social status. It’s invading our own rights without telling us. John Locke emphasized that all humans should be granted life, liberty, and property. We need to respect each others’ boundaries. The teachers should at least tell us before hand that apple remote desktop is on. They need to respect our own things--although they required us to obtain a macbook, in the end, we are the ones that paid for it. Thus, we should have the control over what to do with what we paid for. It’s as if they are manipulating us with their power and using it against us. If we had the ability to use apple remote desktop on our teachers’ computers, they wouldn’t feel respected either, for it’s a privacy issue. However, just because they are not only older, but have a higher authority, the teachers shouldn’t be able to look at our what we’re doing...and sometimes even control what happens on our computers.
Lastly, it’s our responsibility on what happens with our computer and what we learn. The teachers may state that it’s for our own good, for us to do the right thing before college, but the fact is, we’re not always going to be paying attention in class for hours. Research studies prove that most students only have a concentrated time span for a maximum of 20 minutes. In the end, we are the ones that will be affected if we don’t listen in class. It’s like a babysitter babysitting us
Ahn, 3
until we step out into the real world. But what may happen? With more freedom and liberty in college, students will most likely slack off more due to the fact that they received this freedom that they didn’t have before. It’s basically the same concept as sleeping in class. If students sleep in class, it’s their responsibility to learn and catch up with the work they missed. However, if they did pay attention, then they could earn better scores on tests and exams. We’re high schoolers now, and we should have the rights and responsibility to take care of ourselves and our personal belongings.
We do not need apple remote desktop, because essentially, it “breaks” the school’s morals. Trust, respect, and responsibility are not even moral laws to abide by for the school, but they are major components for the good of our world. Thus, instead of installing apple remote desktop, teachers should just trust that we will do the right thing, and if we don’t, it’ll only have a negative effect on us. Apple remote desktop is an abusive way of showing control--we must terminate this system. My fellow students, the journey to end this absurd system irrevocably is in our hands--we must stand up and fight for our basic morals and desires.